Online Devotions: sin

Showing posts with label sin. Show all posts

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Where Would You Be Without God's Love?

April 9 (Romans 3:23)

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (ESV)

Spring is a time to think of life, not death, right? It is a time of bright sunshine, not darkness. Stay with the darkness for a moment and consider death…your own. You can talk about its being unfair or just an ancient belief all you want, but the simple fact is that you, your sweet grandmother who never spoke an unkind word, and the toddler next door have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Oh, and the consequence for each one is eternal separation from Him.

Everything in you rebels against that thought. It just does not seem right. We would never be so harsh or judgmental. Okay. I get that. And a three-paragraph devotion does not have the space to discuss those reasonable objections. Yet here’s the thing. Stay with the anger and frustration. Stay with the confusion and worry. Now you are ready to appreciate the unspeakable glory of Easter.

Next Sunday Christians will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We celebrate because that event proved the love of God beyond all doubt and removed all of the sin and all of the punishment for each and every person who chooses to receive that gift of grace. But you can’t come close to appreciating the enormity of that gift and the sheer magnitude of the love behind it if you don’t take a moment to ponder where you would be without it.

Father, I want to take some time to consider where I would be without Your love. It is a scary proposition, but I need to be scared, at least a little, so I can fully appreciate what Jesus did for me. O God, I want You to have my full praise as we move toward Easter. Help me to see the full measure of what You have done for me. In the name of Jesus, Who made it all possible, amen.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Uncomfortable Love

November 20 (Mark 5:7-8)

With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.” (ESV)

Most people do not want to seem rude. We want to get along with others and for people to like us. This natural tendency merges with the Bible’s talk about loving each other, and before you know it we have compromised biblical truth for conflict-free relationships. We think we are “loving people to Jesus” when we fail to speak the truth.

When Jesus came upon a man possessed by multiple demons, He did not smile and accept his lifestyle. He did not wish him well privately as he went on about His business. His business, it turned out, was confronting the evil directly. Did that cause the man discomfort? Apparently it did, for he begged Jesus not to torture him. He even invoked the name of God. Had this happened today, he may well have said, “A real Christian wouldn’t make me feel bad about my condition.”

Of course, Jesus did not make the man feel bad about his condition. In fact, Scripture says that He had addressed the evil spirit directly, not the man. It is important when confronting sin, whether in the lives of friends and family or in ourselves, that we make a distinction. Sin is evil. Our participation in it is wrong. The joy of forgiveness can belong to anyone who acknowledges this and accepts the healing grace of Jesus Christ.

Father, help me break the false identity that I am my sin. Create in me that new heart capable of knowing, without a doubt, that I am Your child by the blood of Jesus. Grant me the boldness that comes from walking in the Holy Spirit to confront sin with the truth and the true love of Jesus. Amen.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

When a Christian Sins

September 6 (1 John 2:1)

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (ESV)

I get it. I am not supposed to sin. I should not even want to sin. Oh, but I do. There are times when it just happens, almost without my thinking, and there other times when I am well aware of what I should do, but deliberately do the opposite. What then? My friends may not like me if they knew. People who look up to me may look at me with less admiration. What if I lose the opportunity to serve God as I really want to because people think I am not good enough when they learn the truth about me?

I am willing to be that some, or all, of those concerns sound familiar. I hear that nagging voice of doubt almost every day. Guess what? That nagging voice can take a hike. We have an advocate, one who will plead our case before God Himself. Now, that is a pretty good deal right there, but wait, as they say on the infomercials, there’s more! That advocate is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, the one true God Who walked the earth as a human and willingly died for me because He loves me just that much.

Do we really grasp that? Jesus Christ defends us before God when we sin. Naturally we should not make a habit of it, but when it does happen, Jesus has our backs. As our pastor recently said, confess, repent, and get on with your life.

Jesus, thank You so much for the grace of Your forgiveness. Thank You for Your love that heals and restores and catches me when I fall. Help me to live from a place of confidence in Who You are and all that You have done and continue to do for me. Amen.